A Walking Ghost
by AsTheTidesTurnRed
Summary: After 10 long years, Ash has decided to leave Mt. Silver and return home. Figured I'd give my take on how this would go, please R&R. Rated T for violence, Language and Romantic Situations later. Ash X Misty/May/Dawn  Haven't quite decided which yet
1. Chapter 1

"Pallet Town: A pure white beginning…"

It was nearly dark out when the man read the sign that sat in front of the quaint little town. It was the exact same as he remembered- Just a small hand full of houses containing well-groomed lawns and lush gardens, and the lab. Still quiet, still peaceful, still the exact same as it was 10 years ago. However, the 20 year old who stood at the foot of the town couldn't be any more different than he was. His black hair hung down to the center of his back, covering his brown eyes. He had a thick, unkempt beard, and his clothes were in no better shape; the over shirt had been damaged beyond repair years ago, his black t-shirt, blue jeans and red-and-black boots were covered in dirt and torn to high hell after years of abuse. A green back pack hung around his shoulder, just as damaged as his clothing, but still functional. His arms, body, legs and even a bit of his face was covered in the scars of 10 years in the mountains. In fact, were it not for the Pikachu at his side, one would never believe that the man who stood just outside of this town was Ash.

"So, how about we finally head home, Pikachu?"

"Pi pika pi!" Pikachu jumped in excitement. Ash let out a laugh, his voice quite a bit deeper than it was 10 years ago, but still recognizable to an extent. He nodded forward and the two entered the town. Ash breathed the air deeply; fresh, but not in the way that the mountain air was. Much more fragrant, the scent of flowers being dominant instead of trees. It was a welcome change for him. Though it had been years, his feet knew exactly which way to go to get to what was (and what he hoped to still be) his home. He stopped in front of the white house and sighed in relief- It was still the exact same as he remembered it to be. White paint, almost-orange shingles, a little sign that said "Ketchum Residence" right along the street.

"Here's for hoping that mom isn't that upset that it's been so long, huh, buddy?"

"Pika!" There was reassurance in Pikachu's voice, which was what Ash needed to walk up the steps and knock on the front door.

"Coming!" he heard his mother's voice say from inside. Ash's palms began to sweat, and he shook ever so slightly out of nervousness. It had been 10 years… what would he say? What would she say? Would it be awkward? Would she welcome him back with open arms or turn him down on the spot? Ash's thoughts halted the moment that the door opened.

"Can I help you, sir?" She looked very much the same as Ash remembered her. Her brown hair was now half gray, but she still had the same bright face (Thought now containing some wrinkles) and she still had the same big, brown eyes as Ash. She was taken aback by his silence, but she started to look closer at him.

"You look familiar…" she said, a little confused.

"Well, I'd hope so." Ash said, "It's been 10 years, but…

"Ash?"

"Hi, mom…"

Delia wrapped her arms tightly around her son and began sobbing instantly. "Ash… my Ash is home… my boy…" Ash wrapped his arms around his mother, shedding a few tears, and the two stood there in a tight embrace for what felt like an eternity. When Delia finally let go, she dragged Ash over to the couch, slammed the door and stared intently at her son. Her eyes were flickering with rage, and her mood had changed very quickly.

"ASH KETCHUM!" She shouted, staring a hole into her son, "Where in the HELL have you been? 10 years… no call, no letters, no sign that you were even ALIVE! I thought you were DEAD! WE ALL THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

"Mom, I…"

"DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE HOW WORRIED WE'VE ALL BEEN? Brock, Misty, May, Dawn… hell, even GARY'S been worried sick about you! How in the HELL could you…"

"I'm sorry, mom!" Ash looked up at his mother, tears streaming down his face. "Look, I can explain!"

"You better!" Delia was still upset, but seeing the tears coming from his son's eyes cooled her off quite a bit. She regained her composure and spoke softly. "Look, Ash… I'll make some tea. Go and take a shower, clean yourself up a bit… there should be a razor up there so you can clean your face up, too… I'll feed your Pokemon when you're in there and we can talk when you come out."

Ash simply nodded before he walked to the bathroom, closed the door and disrobed. He looked at himself for the first time in ages in the mirror, and realized that he was a little worse off than he thought he was. He had a large scar across his left cheek, his torso was almost entirely scar tissue, as was a good chunk of his upper left arm… and GOD did he look filthy. He turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the warm water soak his body for the first time in AGES! About a half hour passed before he stepped out, noticing that his mother had popped in and left him a clean pair of navy blue sweats and a white T-shirt. He shaved his face completely clean (Noticing that, on top of the cheek scar, he also had a decent scar on the left side of his chin), got dressed and walked back into the dining room, where there was a cup of tea sitting on the table. He looked out the back window to see his pokemon eating their first good meal in way too long and his mother walking in the back door. The two sat down and Ash downed his glass of tea before looking up at his mother, who was quietly sipping her tea and looking at her son.

"I guess I have some explaining to do, huh?"

"Yes, you do, young man!" Delia was still upset, but FAR less than she was earlier.

"Right…" Ash stared down at his feet, not able to look his mother in the eye, "…well, I don't want to bore you with all the details, but basically after I finished the Unova League, I felt sort of… well, lost. I didn't know what to do, where to go… so I sort of wandered around for a really long time, just drifting from town to town until I found myself back in Kanto. For some reason, I felt like I couldn't come home, like there was still something I had to do, so I traveled up to Mt. Silver and I started training. I trained harder than I've ever trained before, I found myself consumed by it, and I was falling further into my depression. I wasn't sure what it was, but something just… felt empty in me. I spent about eight years up there until some kid wound up stumbling across me and beat me in a Pokemon battle. For the next year… that consumed me. I wasn't sure what to do, I was so sure that me and my team were at the peak of what we could do… and I still wasn't the best. Part of me felt like that wasn't it, that there was more to what I was feeling than that, but it consumed me to the point where… where I wanted to end it, Mom."

Ash looked up at his mother for the first time since he started explaining what was, to be honest, a very, VERY censored version of what actually happened during the past 10 years, and concern was flickering in her eyes instead of rage. He could tell that she was battling tears, and he wanted to stop his story there… he was already leaving out huge parts of it, so why not? Why put his mother through any more? But he couldn't… he needed to finish what he felt he could tell her without completely destroying her… Ash looked back down.

"…and I tried to. It was about three months ago. I found one of the highest points in the mountain and… I flung myself from it." He heard his mother gasp, and continued. "I'm not sure how long I was out, but I woke up and found myself fine. I was pissed beyond all belief, to be honest. I screamed, I through branches, I threw stones, I punched whatever I could find, I was tired of not being able to figure out what the fuck was bothering me so much… then I looked over and saw Pikachu staring at me, crying, and I started to realize what it was; I was alone. I felt empty because for the first time in my life, I was alone. I was used to always having you, or Misty and Brock, or May and Max, or Dawn, or… somebody there. I tried to fill the void with battling to become the very best, but it wasn't enough! At the end of the day… I mean, yeah, I had my dreams, but I realized that my friends… my family… they were more important to me than any of that. So I started walking back. I can't explain it, but it's like my feet knew exactly where to go. I knew that I had to come home, that I had to get back in touch with everybody, and I knew that everyone was bound to be worried, and that everyone's probably going to be furious, and all I can say is that I'm sorry. I'm really sorry… I was stupid… and I don't expect you to forgive me…"

Ash was cut off by his mother leaping over to him and hugging him tightly, sobbing uncontrollably. Ash was able to keep his composure shockingly well, holding his mother tight to him. He whispered "I'm sorry, mom" about a million times as he held her close to him…

-

I'm not too sure where I can go from here, but I want to keep this story going. I figure that there's a lot of different places Ash's disappearance in the game could go, so I'd throw in my two cents and give my own spin on it. I can't promise that I'll update very often, as this was very spur-of-the-moment and, while I have idea's of where I want to go from here, I'm not too sure how to do it, but this will be continued. Please leave me a review letting me know if this is even worth continuing (It would reassure and motivate me a little bit).


	2. Chapter 2

It had been two days since Ash returned home, and he had to admit that he was getting a little antsy. He was afraid to leave the house, in fear of upsetting his mother, so he spent most of his time locked up in his room, going through his old belongings, letting Pikachu roam around the house. He was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, when Pikachu ran up to him, an old photo album in hand.

"What's that you got there, buddy?" Ash said in his deeper, slightly rough voice. He looked at the album and picked it up. "Where did you find that?"

"Pi Pikachu!"

He opened the album to find that it was from the months before he set out on his adventure. Skimming through, reliving old memories, Ash finally stopped at a picture that was taken three days before he got Pikachu. It was him with the other trainers that would get their Pokemon on that faithful day... including his old rival, Gary. Ash stared at the album, transfixed on the image of him and Gary in the same shot, for a good half hour before he finally sprung out of his bed and ran downstairs, Pikachu running along side him. He finally stopped when he got to the living room, where his mother was watching Professor Oak's TV show.

"Hey mom, Gary still lives right down the road, doesn't he?"

"Last I checked, yes. Oh, he might be doing field work for Professor Oak right now, though!"

"I think I'm going to run down and pay him a visit."

"How long will you be gone?" Delia's voice got a little nervous at the though of her only son leaving once again. Ash chuckled a little bit.

"Relax, mom," he said, reassuringly, "it'll only be for an hour or two. I promise I won't go missing again, okay?"

"Okay, then." Her voice was still a little nervous, but she knew that he couldn't stay cooped up in the house forever. "Hurry back, Ash."

"Okay, mom!" Ash was almost out the door before he heard his mom's voice again.

"Ash?"

"Yeah, mom?"

"I love you, son!"

Ash was silent for a moment, but eventually he smiled. "I love you too. Ready, Pikachu?"

"Pi Pika Pi!"

xoxoxoxoxoxo

The walk to Gary's house was rather uneventful, but once he got there, he saw Gary in a window, scribbling away at some notes. He took a deep breath before knocking on the door.

"Just a second!" Gary's voice, it would seem, had gotten a bit deeper, as well. He actually sounded like a younger version of his grandpa, if you listened close enough. Anyway, Gary answered the door, and the two looked at each other for what felt like a much longer moment than it actually was.

"So..." Gary finally said, "look who decided to come back."

"Hey, Gary!"

"Ashy-Boy"

Ash grunted a little bit at this, still not being fond of Gary's old childhood nickname for him, and Gary let out a low chuckle. "Come on in, I was just making some tea."

Ash obliged and stepped inside, making his way to the kitchen table and sitting down. Gary poured two cups of tea and sat one down in front of Ash. The two sat in silence for another long moment before, once more, Gary broke it.

"You know, I should be furious with you right now."

"Why's that?" Ash said after taking a sip

"Gee, I wonder!" Gary spat, sounding mildly irritated at the question. "You disappear for ten years, no note, no letters, no phone calls. Do you have any idea how worried we all got about you, Ash? Your mother was a wreck! Gramps was disappointed that he'd lost one of his star pupils. Brock and Misty would come into town every month or so to see if Delia had heard anything from you, May and Dawn would drop by whenever they were in Kanto to do the same. Tracey moved away because he was depressed being here, knowing that you'd gone missing. Hell, even I lost hope that you were alive, Ash! What the hell were you thinking?"

Ash looked down at his tea, wanting to get defensive, but knowing that Gary was 100 percent right. A long moment passed before Ash finally spoke up. "I'm sorry. I never wanted to scare all of you guys. I was just... doing other things."

"Like what?" Gary said, rather aggravated by the arrogant comment that just came out of his old rival's mouth. "What could possibly be more important than your friends, your family, the people who give a shit about you?"

"I just..." Ash's voice trembled a little as he spoke now, "I just wanted to try to be the very best... like I always wanted to be when I was a kid... like my father was..."

Another long moment of silence passed as Ash regained his composure and Gary let his words sink in. For the third time, Gary broke the silence.

"Still bugging you after all this time, isn't it?"

"What is?"

"Your dad disappearing the way he did..."

"It's a little more than that this time, Gary..."

xoxoxoxoxoxo

_Ash finally got to the summit of Mt. Silver. The trek had taken him a few days, but he was determined. If the rumors were true, than this would be the ultimate test of his abilities, a way to see if he truly was the very best._

_He looked around before finally spotting an old man, who looked to be maybe in his late forties, wearing little more than a very beat up pair of jeans and the remains of his trainers. He had a small pile of PokeBalls in front of him, and he stared blankly at them, not even noticing Ash's presence._

"_Are you the great Pokemon trainer that I've heard so much about?" Ash asked. The trainer continued to stare at the PokeBalls. Ash was mildly annoyed at this._

"_Hey, I asked you a question!" The trainer continued to ignore Ash's cries for attention. "HEY! I want to challenge you to a battle!"_

_Without ever looking at Ash, the trainer selected six balls and stood. He stepped forward off of the platform he was on and finally locked eyes with Ash._

"_So... is that a yes to my challenge?"_

_The trainer, once more, said nothing. However, he did give a curt nod..._

xoxoxoxoxoxo

Author Note: Sorry it took me quite a little while to finally update this story. I could simply say that I've just been busy (Which is very true)... but a big part of it was that, since I had no plan going into this story, I wasn't sure where I wanted to take this. However, I think I have a rough plan, if nothing else, for the story, and I'm kind of interested to see where this goes. Not promising that updates are going to be super frequent or anything, since I rarely have free time anymore, but... well, updates will be a thing!


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